On December 10, Yang Qian, a doctoral graduate from the School of Materials Science and Engineering of the University (now a postdoctoral student at the University of Manchester, UK) published a paper entitled “Capillary Condensation under Atomic-scale Confinement” in the top international academic journal Nature (Nature, 2020, 588, 250–253,https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2978-1) as the first author, and Professor Zhou Zuowan, president of Frontier Institute of Science and Technology from the Key Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials, Ministry of Education is the co-author.

This paper proposes a new theory of capillary condensation under atomic-scale confinement and revises the traditional Kelvin equation in order to better describe condensation phenomenon within sub-nano diameters, providing solutions to the conundrum of capillary condensation veiled for a century.

In recent years, the research team of functional polymer materials led by Professor Zhou has been committed to the exploration and studies in cutting-edge and interdisciplinary fields, aiming to expand channels for international cooperation. Its Postgraduate students, especially doctoral students, are encouraged to strive for innovations and breakthroughs and to pursue a distinctive path of academic originality at the forefront.

According to the latest statistics of “ESI Highly Cited Papers”, Zhou’s team has published 9 highly cited papers, topping all the research teams of the University. In addition, the antibacterial materials for manned space capsule developed by the research group have been successfully utilized in the scientific experiments for Tiangong program and other series of Chinese space equipment and in the type selection of antibacterial materials and the system of microbial protection technology for China's space station. The team also won the first prize of Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology Advancement Award in 2019.